As I've writtenbefore, the only people who want Bloomberg to run are (a) moderate former elected officials and pundits who want to be relevant and dislike polarization and (b) consultants who would make a fortune from his candidacy. To repeat my line: some people call pundits and political consultants the elite; Bloomberg calls them his base.

The reasons Bloomberg is exceptionally unlikely to win are straightforward. Third-party candidacies are usually built around an issue that cuts across party lines like the deficit or race; Bloomberg has no such issue. More importantly, the factors preventing a successful third party bid -- which include strategic voting for one of the top two candidates, party loyalty, ballot access, and the Electoral College -- are essentially insurmountable. As a result, Bloomberg would probably follow the trajectory of John Anderson, a moderate Republican who ran for president as an independent in 1980. He entered the race with a splash and then tailed off into irrelevance. I would expect Bloomberg to do the same thing despite his billions.

With that said, Bloomberg would undoubtedly affect the race, particularly if he used his cash to go negative on one or both major party nominees. My take is that he would be more likely to peel moderate Democrats and independents off of, say, Hillary than to pull voters from the Republican nominee. But it is hard to predict.

In the end, he's more likely to pull a Colin Powell and flirt with the idea for a long time before finally saying no. You get a big ego boost without the humiliation of utter defeat. (Ask Fred Thompson what happens when you say yes!)

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Here is my take— It is rare that you find a candidate that agrees with you on every single issue. But at the end of the day, the President is the executive manager of the world's most powerful enterprise, the US government. I believe most voter's underestimate the value of competence and management experience. What is most important to me is, do they have the competence and the experience to manage such an enterprise? Will they keep the economy strong? Will they make sound judgement in a crisis? Will they hire competent people, or just give valuable positions to unqualified individuals because they either have party connects or "owe" someone because of a campaign contribution?

This makes Bloomberg the right man at the right time.

His money buys him independence of a sort no other candidate can claim.

He doesn't look at decisions from an ideological point of view. He's very pragmatic.

You may be right, right about him not entering. But I think it is worth it to encourage him.

It is informational, and contains statements by politicians from both parties, notable business leaders and others regarding a possible third-party run by Mike Bloomberg. It also contains some videos of interviews and others of Mike speaking on issues.